CBRE is tapping fresh leadership in Texas as the big brokerages gear up for a rebound.
The Dallas-based firm hired Ryan Kasten as senior managing director for Central Texas, putting the former Partners Real Estate executive in charge of the brokerage giant’s Austin office starting July 22, the Austin Business Journal reported.
Kasten joined Houston-based Partners just last summer as partner and managing director, overseeing its expansion in Austin and San Antonio. Before that, he served as managing principal for Cushman & Wakefield’s operations in both cities.
Kasten’s resume includes over 5 million square feet of transactions, with leasing experience in downtown Austin, New York City and Palo Alto, California. His hire is the latest in a string of high-profile leadership moves among top brokerages as they position for a potential market resurgence in the next year.
CBRE is first in the Austin market for transaction volume this year, according to the outlet’s rankings.
Kasten’s exit leaves a gap at Partners, which had recently named him a key part of its growth push in Central Texas. The firm has yet to name a successor.
Late last month, CBRE lost longtime Dallas project and development services leader Steve Echols, who joined rival JLL as senior vice president. Echols had spent 21 years at CBRE, where he oversaw multimillion-dollar capital improvements and advised institutional clients on build-to-suit strategies.
CBRE has made recent appointments elsewhere, too, including snagging Ariel Aber, who headed New York investments for seven years at California-based DivcoWest before jumping to the firm’s investment sales team in New York in April. The firm promoted Gian Rodriguez to senior managing director and head of its Miami and Fort Lauderdale offices in March, one year after hiring him from Cushman & Wakefield.
— Judah Duke
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